Jai alai is a game played with a long curved wicker basket strapped to the wrist of a player. The basket is used to catch and hurl a ball against a wall to make it rebound in such a way that an opponent cannot return it before it is bounced more than once. The jai alai basket is an expensive, hand crafted device requiring a great deal of skill to use. It takes years of training to learn how to skillfully use a jai alai basket because it is difficult to control the flight of the ball when it is thrown with the basket. This is due to the fact that the basket provides no set path for the ball and no direct means for putting a spin on the ball. Thus, unlike a baseball pitcher who imparts spin to a ball and is able to control the path of a ball with his fingers immediately prior to its release, the jai alai player must rely on centrifugal force and a snap of his wrist to control the path of the ball. Thus it is extremely difficult to throw a curve, sinker, or knuckle ball with a jai alai basket.
Another game utilizing a basket or scoop-like device for catching and throwing a ball is lacrosse. The lacrosse stick, also known as a crosse, is a long-handled meshed scoop.
The lacrosse stick suffers from some of the same disadvantages as the jai alai basket. It is difficult to control the path of a thrown ball and takes years of practice to become proficient at it.
Toy makers have sought to capitalize on the popularity of lacrosse and jai alai by manufacturing baskets or scoops patterned after the jai alai basket. One example is a molded polyethylene scoop with a shape comparable to that of the jai alai basket. The scoop has a hollow, cylindrical handle. The front of the scoop is open for catching and throwing balls. The back and sides of the scoop are completely solid. The portion of the scoop near the handle is generally bowl-shaped so that it is possible to hold projectiles in it while running.
Like jai alai and lacrosse baskets, it is difficult to control the path of a projectile thrown by the toy. In addition, the surface area of the back wall of the scoop is relatively small compared to the surface area of the back wall of a lacrosse or jai alai basket. Thus it is difficult to catch a ball with the scoop. Furthermore, since there is no wrist strap and the polyethylene handle is slippery, it is difficult to hold onto in use.
Another toy for catching and throwing balls is a scoop-like implement having a cylindrical, hollow handle with ribs on top of which is a ball cradling area, shaped like a truncated cone, with the smaller end of the cone adjacent to the handle. The back wall of the scoop is an open mesh of rigid ribs of plastic which serves as a backstop for catching balls.
However, the ball catching area is much smaller than the ball catching area of both the lacrosse and jai alai baskets, thereby making it very difficult to catch a ball. In addition, the toy has the same problems that the other prior art devices have, i.e., an unskilled player has a great difficulty in controlling the flight path of a thrown ball.